On Day I the approach of the England Team was very cautious but today they were very positive and that showed on the scoreboard. The tail wagged very efficiently for them and they put up a very respectable total on the board.
The problem with the Indian bowlers is that when ever the batsmen start scoring at a brisk rate against them, the bowlers go into a shell. They get busy trying to stop the runs and forget their primary task of picking up the wickets.
Today when the game began all that India needed was to take three wickets to wind up England's innings. But Collingwood played a marvellous innings to score his century and all the tailenders gave him a good support.
They scored at the fast rate and made sure that India will have to bat with responsibility if they want to take a lead in the first innings.
India were one bowler short and the presence of Piyush Chawla would have made a big difference as the pitch has started to spin. Harbhajan and Kumble bowled a lot of loose balls and did not apply the pressure on the lower order batsmen as much as they should have.
Kumble bowled too much down the leg side and as he is not a big spinner, he was not at all effective. Harbhajan has lost the art of turning the ball on pitches that are not helping the spinners too much and this showed today. He must get that art back soon or he will become a very ineffective bowler.
England, too, made their task difficult by playing aggressively and scored atleast 75 runs more than what India would have liked. But for this the Indian bowlers are to be blamed.
When India came to bat Jaffer showed a very good temprament even though Sehwag was out to a lose shot. Dravid gave Jaffer a good company but the scoring rate was on the slower side. India could have easily put on around 35-45 more runs.
On the third day India should make sure that they don't lose any quick wickets as that give England a huge advantage. India should score quick runs and take a lead of at least 150 runs. If the match goes into the fifth day, India would not like to chase more than 200 runs.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)
About the AuthorKrishnamachari Srikkanth Krishnamachari Srikkanth was one of the most destructive batsmen who could decimate the strongest and most fearsome attacks in the world by his vast r...Read Morefirst published:March 02, 2006, 20:22 ISTlast updated:March 02, 2006, 20:22 IST
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-mid-article',container: 'taboola-mid-article-thumbnails',placement: 'Mid Article Thumbnails',target_type: 'mix'});
let eventFire = false;
window.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
if (window.taboolaInt && !eventFire) {
setTimeout(() => {
ga('send', 'event', 'Mid Article Thumbnails', 'PV');
ga('set', 'dimension22', "Taboola Yes");
}, 4000);
eventFire = true;
}
});
window._taboola = window._taboola || [];_taboola.push({mode: 'thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails', placement: 'Below Article Thumbnails', target_type: 'mix' });Latest News
At the end of the second day's play the match is evenly poised. With three more days to go the match will surely produce a result.
On Day I the approach of the England Team was very cautious but today they were very positive and that showed on the scoreboard. The tail wagged very efficiently for them and they put up a very respectable total on the board.
The problem with the Indian bowlers is that when ever the batsmen start scoring at a brisk rate against them, the bowlers go into a shell. They get busy trying to stop the runs and forget their primary task of picking up the wickets.
Today when the game began all that India needed was to take three wickets to wind up England's innings. But Collingwood played a marvellous innings to score his century and all the tailenders gave him a good support.
They scored at the fast rate and made sure that India will have to bat with responsibility if they want to take a lead in the first innings.
India were one bowler short and the presence of Piyush Chawla would have made a big difference as the pitch has started to spin. Harbhajan and Kumble bowled a lot of loose balls and did not apply the pressure on the lower order batsmen as much as they should have.
Kumble bowled too much down the leg side and as he is not a big spinner, he was not at all effective. Harbhajan has lost the art of turning the ball on pitches that are not helping the spinners too much and this showed today. He must get that art back soon or he will become a very ineffective bowler.
England, too, made their task difficult by playing aggressively and scored atleast 75 runs more than what India would have liked. But for this the Indian bowlers are to be blamed.
When India came to bat Jaffer showed a very good temprament even though Sehwag was out to a lose shot. Dravid gave Jaffer a good company but the scoring rate was on the slower side. India could have easily put on around 35-45 more runs.
On the third day India should make sure that they don't lose any quick wickets as that give England a huge advantage. India should score quick runs and take a lead of at least 150 runs. If the match goes into the fifth day, India would not like to chase more than 200 runs.
(Krish Srikkanth is a former skipper of Indian cricket team. He maintains a regular blog on IBNLive. His website is www.krishinfotek.com)
Comments
0 comment